Southeast Regional Program Director

The Wilderness Society (TWS) seeks a highly collaborative, motivated, and skilled individual to lead The Wilderness Society’s work in the Southeast. The person in this position will have the opportunity to create a strategic program, develop new and creative partnerships and build a politically influential network to advance conservation and ensure people from all backgrounds have opportunities to connect with nature. The Southeast region is rich in cultural and historical resources and home to some of the most biologically rich and most visited national parks and forests in the country – areas which also offer premier outdoor recreation opportunities. Going forward, our work must combine protecting these iconic natural and recreational values at a landscape scale while focusing on how we better connect people to the outdoors especially people who have not been able to take advantage of the benefits that our nation’s public lands and open spaces have to offer.

TWS is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. We believe public lands belong to and should benefit everyone. Our organization and work must embody the cultures and perspectives of people and communities across our nation, and connect and inspire people to care about the outdoors.

**The preferred location for this position would be a metropolitan area within North Carolina. However other metropolitan areas may be considered**

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Southeast Regional Program Director is a senior member of The Wilderness Society’s Conservation team. The Director will develop and lead the organization’s work in the Southeast with a focus on North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina. The person in this position is responsible for developing strategic partnerships, fundraising, directing and/or leading campaigns, budgeting, and managing staff. The Southeast Regional Program Director will manage staff in the region and provide support, strategic guidance and direction to a cross-disciplinary team of staff who contribute to work in the region. The Director plays a critical role in cultivating and managing relationships with a wide range of partners as well as with federal, state, tribal, and local government officials and their staffs to build and strengthen The Wilderness Society’s presence in the region and nationally.

The ideal candidate for this position is an experienced leader and strong project manager who can engage staff at all levels to achieve The Wilderness Society’s organizational priorities in NC, TN, SC, ensuring strategic focus and effective advocacy on the organization’s conservation and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

The Southeast Regional Program Director plays a critical role in establishing and reinforcing an inclusive organizational culture that is grounded in trust and accountability to shared goals and outcomes. TWS has made diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic priorities for the organization. This leader will integrate these priorities throughout our work in the region, from expanding our partnerships to bringing an equity lens to all facets of the job. Across our team, we aspire to be campaign oriented, nimble, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset.

Essential duties and responsibilities:

• Develop strategic program priorities for the region in furtherance of TWS’ overarching goals and vision.
• Lead and oversee implementation of campaigns in Southeast and position TWS as a trusted collaborator with partners and decision makers.
• Build network to educate and influence Southeast decision makers on regional and national conservation priorities.
• Cultivate and solicit major gifts from philanthropic foundations and major donors in close coordination with philanthropy staff.
• Manage staff in region and provide leadership to multi-disciplinary team of TWS staff contributing to work in the Southeast.
• Responsible for day to day management of the Southeast conservation budget.
• Initiate, build, and maintain strong relationships with federal, state, tribal, and local government officials, key partner organizations and stakeholders, and the media.
• Ensure the Southeast regional program’s perspectives and insights are incorporated into the organization’s national work.
• Perform other related duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS
Experience, Competencies, and Education

• Experience working on or leading issue advocacy or political campaigns, success in fundraising from individual donors or philanthropic foundations, and/or work to advance public policy changes at the local, state or federal level.
• Solid communication and interpersonal skills that can be applied to complex conservation issues, partnerships and coalitions, donor engagement, and staff management.
• Experience leading and managing teams representing a rich mix of talent, backgrounds, and perspectives. This includes a track record of successful recruitment, cultivation, and retention of highly skilled staff across race and gender.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships and networks among key stakeholders, government officials, donors, and partner organizations.
• Strategic thinking and ability to craft a compelling vision, set goals and priorities.
• Good time management skills, with the ability to aptly balance short- and long-term demands.
• Strong writing skills and the ability to speak effectively in public, with donors, partners, elected officials, and the media.

Desired Characteristics

• An effective leader, capable of working with a wide range of audiences.
• Commitment to supporting others in accomplishing our goals in an equitable and inclusive manner.
• Excellent strategic instincts and long-term vision.
• Ability to manage a complex array of personnel, programmatic, and organizational demands.
• Trustworthy and dedicated.

As an organization, we aspire to be inclusive in the work that we do, and in the kind of organization we are. Internally, this means working as a team that listens to different points of view, recognizes the contributions of every employee and empowers each employee to bring their whole selves to work every day. Externally, this means ensuring that public lands are inclusive and welcoming, so that our shared wildlands can help people and nature to thrive. We are committed to equity throughout our work, which we define as our commitment to realizing the promise of our public lands and ensuring that all can share in their universal benefits.